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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23817280">can i be close to you?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/leifstroganoff/pseuds/leifstroganoff'>leifstroganoff</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, even if its accidental lmao, like blink and you'll miss it, zoeys in it for like a second</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:41:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,253</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23817280</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/leifstroganoff/pseuds/leifstroganoff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sentence Prompt: “I’m sorry that I got way too into playing house and accidentally kissed you."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tobin Batra/Leif Donnelly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>can i be close to you?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is set probably about a year before canon idk timelines are confusing i just know its pre show which probably makes it canon divergent but its 2am and i dont care enough to figure it out uhh screw canon </p>
<p>i'm just drabbling to practice writing but i ended up really liking this and there can always be more coder bfs fic so here you go !! no beta or proofreading we die like men !!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tobin might not like to acknowledge it, but he and Leif have become horribly codependent - well, less </span>
  <em>
    <span>become, </span>
  </em>
  <span>more </span>
  <em>
    <span>have been </span>
  </em>
  <span>since high school. He’s pretty sure that the most time they really spend away from each other is when Tobin takes the bus to work and Leif rides his bike. Regardless, it’s true. They’ve relied on each other since they were 11; through the bad times, the good times and through </span>
  <em>
    <span>puberty, </span>
  </em>
  <span>which managed to be both.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, it shouldn’t have surprised him when they started to treat each other in a more domestic fashion; there were no dramatic changes, but they started sharing groceries (really, it just makes sense - why buy two milks and two cartons of eggs for one kitchen, Leif?), decorations (the main space of the apartment can’t just be </span>
  <em>
    <span>bare</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Leif), even clothes (okay, that one he can’t wholeheartedly defend - but was he supposed to stop Leif from wearing his hoodies when he kept giving him that damned sheepish smile?). </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span> they had a morning routine and </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe </span>
  </em>
  <span>they worked perfectly around each other and </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobin’s chest got all warm when they’d have movie nights and Leif would insist that he could stay up for a double feature and he’d fall asleep ten minutes into the second movie, slumping over onto Tobin’s shoulder. It didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>mean</span>
  </em>
  <span> anything; they were just comfortable around each other in the way that only best friends can be. So what if Tobin’s face would always light up with a dumb smile when, after the credits rolled and he nudged Leif awake, Leif would insist that he hadn’t fallen asleep at all and that “it was such a good movie and I paid attention so hard”?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And maybe sometimes Tobin watched Leif when he wasn’t paying attention and took in everything that made him handsome (because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>handsome and there’s nothing wrong with his best friend noticing that, </span>
  <em>
    <span>shove off</span>
  </em>
  <span>) and how when he didn’t think anyone was looking he would let his guard down and Tobin almost thought he could see the insecure teenager that he grew up with beneath the confident facade he’d built up. Maybe he noticed that he’d seemed sadder lately and </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span> he’d started making active efforts to cheer him up - leaving candy on his pillow, making sure coffee was made in the mornings, and even making him breakfast one morning. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t know you still knew how a stove worked.” A drowsy voice remarked from the island that divided the living room and kitchen in their apartment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, Tobin can’t cook, </span>
  <em>
    <span>blah, blah, blah.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He punctuated his mocking with a flip of the pancakes in front of him, which, mind you, looked very good. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I never said anything of the sort.” Leif moved around the counter to grab a mug from where they hung above the sink. “Saying you </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> cook is different than saying you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span> at cooking. To what do I owe the pleasure of a Tobin certified breakfast?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, nothing to owe. Just… felt like making your favorite breakfast, something in the… vibes.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The </span>
  <em>
    <span>vibes?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Leif let out a sleepy laugh as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a small sip, leaning against the counter in between the sink and the stove. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Unfortunately</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I promised Joan I’d be into work early today to try and fix a piece of code that she doesn’t want anyone, even us apparently, to know is broken. So, rain check? Sorry and put some in the fridge for me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’ll…” Tobin tries to mask his disappointment at the break in their routine, as well as in Leif skipping out on his baller cooking skills. “I’ll put some in the fridge. See you at work.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See you at work.” Leif checked his watch as they spoke, setting his cup of coffee down by the sink. “Sorry, again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leif casually leaned forward and kissed Tobin, before grabbing his sweater from the back of one of their chairs and rushing out the door. It was just a peck, almost thoughtless, but Tobin stood in front of the stove for what seemed like minutes but must’ve been only a couple of seconds. As the stove timer beeped, he raised a hand up to his lips and wondered “</span>
  <em>
    <span>what the hell was that?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> before shaking his head and flipping the pancake in front of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Neither of them acknowledged the morning’s events at work. Not when Tobin got there and awkwardly waved at him, not on their lunch break when they ran to the dope Chinese takeout place down the street, not when they were the only two in the elevator on their way out of the building. They weren’t acknowledging it, but it was hanging over their heads like a sword. Every interaction throughout the day was painted by the awkwardness of not acknowledging it, to the point where Zoey very awkwardly asked him if he was okay and he just stammered and walked away, which was not only </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>uncool of him, but totally damaged his brand of being suave and uncaring. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t acknowledged until Leif got home after Tobin, crashing through the door unceremoniously to the sight of Tobin laid out on the couch, scrolling through something on his phone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry that I got way too into playing house or… or whatever and accidentally kissed you. It wasn’t cool, I wasn’t thinking, I must’ve - I must’ve still been half asleep, or - or something, I don’t know, it won’t happen again.” Leif said most of the two sentences in one breath before breaking eye contact and heading briskly towards his room, only hesitating for a second at his door before closing it behind him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took Tobin a couple seconds to process; one, because he’d said it in his Leif-hurry of embarrassment and anxiety; two, because neither of them had acknowledged that it had even happened until that rush of an apology; and three, because he wasn’t really sure that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> an apology. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once he’d had a minute to collect himself and his many, </span>
  <em>
    <span>many</span>
  </em>
  <span> thoughts, he tumbled not very gracefully off of the couch and moved over to knock on Leif’s door. “Dude? Can I come in?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was greeted a second later by the door opening slowly to reveal a much more disheveled and anxious Leif than he’d seen when the door had closed; his tie was untucked from his sweater, untied and hanging on either side of his neck, the top button of his button down was now open, and his hair looked like his hands had run through it several times, something Tobin knew Leif did when he was nervous. He opened his mouth to say something, probably another sad apology, but was cut off by Tobin leaning forward, grabbing his face, and meeting their lips in a chaste, but not dispassionate, kiss. It only lasts for a second, both of them pulling away to look at the other, to make sure they weren’t going crazy and that that kiss had been as mutual as it felt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, uh… I just wanted to make sure I liked it as much as I did the first time.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leif smiled and laughed, letting his forehead fall onto the other man’s. “Dumbass.” He punctuated the faux-insult by bringing their lips together again; this time, they let the kiss pull them towards each other, each holding the other as close as they could. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span> this could be a new part of their routine.</span>
</p>
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